Chapter 2 - Decay

On a small pedestrian street in a suburban area stood a six-year-old quirkless girl. She had long black hair tied into two pigtails and her black eyes had a concerned look in them.

"You got in trouble again?" she asked, her, on the floor lying, younger brother.

He looked at her with his big red eyes and nodded his mop of black hair bouncing up and down.

Crouching down she looked at his bruised leg "See I told you. You should've just stayed quiet."

Standing up she extended her hand for him to grab it. "I told dad that I wanted to be a housewife, to help around the house like a normal person. I understand you want to be a hero, I would like the same thing. but you know how dad is."

He grabbed her hand and she pulled him up.

Smiling at him she pulled him along "C'mon let's go!"

***

"RUMI-CHAN!" the black-haired girl shouted, running towards a slightly taller tanned girl who was playing on the large playground inside their housing estate. She had white hair and red eyes with two bunny ears sticking out of her head.

Seeing her friend, the girl now identified as Rumi, ran to the black-haired girl.

Her running was strange. It seemed to be more akin to the hopping of a rabbit.

"HANA-CHAN!" she shouted back and just as Rumi reached Hana she grabbed the smaller girl under the arms and lifted her up.

Due to her quirk, rabbit, she can do anything a rabbit can do with an extreme boost in stamina and physical body strength.

Landing again with a large smile on her face Rumi put the giggling Hana down.

"So, how are you?" Rumi asked with a worried look on her face.

Hana just shrugged, "Same as always."

"God damn quirkiest bastards," Rumi growled out, her fist razed.

Reaching out, Hana put her soft hands on Rumi's ruff ones. "It's fine, I don't need a quirk."

Rumi looked down on her smaller friend with a worried look on her face "But…"

"I have you, don't I, you'll protect me," Hana said, a large smile on her face.

A cocky grin formed itself on Rumi's face, "Yeah, of course, I'll protect you from everything."

***

"Tenko can I come in?" she asked after knocking on the door of his room.

"Yes" was the muffled reply she got from him.

Slowly opening it she saw him sitting on the floor hugging his teddy bear.

Seeing the bruises that covered her brother's body she ran over and hugged him.

"Hana-chan?" he whispered.

"Yes?" she whispered back.

His voice almost cracked "Why can't I be a hero?"

Releasing him from the hug she positions herself opposite him.

Reaching forward, she cups his face in her hands "But you can be a hero, look, I'll show you something."

Standing up she motions for him to follow her.

Entering their father's office Hana walked over to the desk. Reaching up she grabbed a key that was placed on top of the desk.

Using the key she had just acquired, Hana opened one of the drawers attached to her father's desk and opened it.

Preaching in she pulled out a small photo and handed it to Tenko.

"It's a secret! This person is apparently our grandma!" she said, showing him a picture of a small boy with a black-haired and-eyed woman in a hero costume.

"She's a hero!"

In a shaky voice, Tenko asked, "Hana-chan, why are you showing me…"

Looking at him Hana smiled "Even though dad said all that, it'll be alright, cause I'll be cheering you on, Tenko! Let's keep it a secret from dad and become hero siblings!"

Looking back at the picture Tenko had a look of tearful joy on his face "Yeah!"

***

Hana was sitting in the living room with her mom, Nao. They were playing Uno together when her mom spoke, "Tenko looked quite happy today, did something happen?"

Looking down, Hana answered, "No, nothing".

Reaching forward, Nao held Hana's hand "Come on, you can tell me."

Hana chewed her lip and looked indecisive. "I… um, might have shown Tenko the picture of grandmother you showed me."

Nao smiled "Good, that was very kind of you Hana. I wish all people were as kind as you."

That brought a smile to Hana's lips.

What the two didn't notice however was Kotaro, Hana's father standing just around the corner listening to their conversation.

***

Hana was in her room when it happened, "TENKO! YOU WENT INTO MY OFFICE DIDN'T YOU?"

It was her father's voice and it came from the back door. Jumping up, she rushed out of her room and was about to run outside when her mother caught her.

Seeing her infuriated father stalk towards her brother, brought tears to her eyes

She tried to run over to help him, but her mother wouldn't let her go.

"You saw it, didn't you?" her father's voice was ice cold. She couldn't see his face but Hana could imagine it and just the image alone sent shivers down her spine.

Seeing as her mother wouldn't let her go, Hana turned and embraced her trying to escape the scene in front of her.

She just couldn't bear the sight of her younger brother being treated so.

Tears now streamed from her eyes, as she pleaded with her father, "But Tenko… Tenko said he wanted to see it! It's my fault, not his."

But her father just wouldn't listen. A loud slap reverberated around the garden and the shout of her mother followed "Kotarou-san!" All the while accompanied by the barking of the household dog.

Slowly raising his hand again her father said "That person wasn't your grandmother. That was a demon that threw away her own children. Listen up. A hero is nothing but someone who hurts their own family for the sake of others."

She could hear her mother and grandparents screaming at him to stop but it was just background noise. Her whole being was focused on her father's voice and the whimpers of her little brother.

***

It was a few hours later when everybody had eaten dinner and of course, as per her father's rules, Tenko wasn't allowed inside the house.

Entering the garden she slowly walked towards Tenko.

"Tenko! I, um… I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Even though I was the one who said it was our secret… I'm sorry."

Hearing loud breathing coming from her brother's direction she looked up.

Her brother had tears streaming down his face, as she saw this it made her extremely worried.

Rushing over to his side she asked "What's the matter-" but stopped when she saw their household dog next to him.

The dog seemed to have crumbled and was now only a half head and half a torso lying in a puddle of blood.

She closed her eyes and a scream left her lips and she bolted, the only thought in her mind was 'Find mom. Find mom. Find mom.'

Hana suddenly felt an energy build up inside her chest and rush towards her eyes.

After running a few more feet and her now open eyes seemed to have changed, they were now bright red with a single tomoe in each eye.

She was halfway to the door when she felt it, Tenko had grabbed onto her dress.

Pain, pain like she had never felt before, it coursed through her body, it started from her right lower back and worked itself up to her face and leg.

She felt it crumble and every cell in her right side screamed in agony.

***

So I'm going through all the old chapters and realized that the first few chapters were still fine soooooo I'll just be re-uploading them and we'll see from there.

Then I hope you have a nice day or night depending on where you are, goodbye ;)